It's Movie Night!

It's Movie Night!

It’s movie night for us and the girls tonight! Every Friday night myself, their dad, and their nana have a movie night with the girls, where the girls take turns choosing movies from Netflix. The girls usually watch on my computer, and we usually start around seven or eight, shortly after finishing with dinner. It’s something that the girls really look forward to all week long, but hopefully they’ll be no fighting or arguing with each other tonight, as there is always someone standing in front of my laptop blocking someone else’s view, and when that happens the girls get to arguing and fighting with each other.

If I Could . . .

If I Could . . .

For the past few days we’ve been putting the girls to bed without reading them bed time stories. Instead we have been having the girls tell stories of their own. This idea started when a few days ago, my husband and I went out to Starbucks in order to get some coffee and sit down and chat. Meanwhile, while we were out, my mom, the girls’ nana, watched the girls for us. Now, we didn’t get back until late at night as we made a few stops to a couple stores out in Henrietta, New York. Meanwhile, my mom put the girls to sleep for us. And instead of her reading a bedtime story to the girls, my mother asked, “How about you guys tell me a story instead.” And that’s where our girls telling us bedtime stories began.

The Finished Piece from Voting Day Unveiled

The Finished Piece from Voting Day Unveiled

Okay, so only two people have commented and voted on which composition that I should use as inspiration for my drawing this Sunday of December 4th, 2011. And since these two people selected entirely different images, I had to play the tie breaker and voted for “Image One” myself. But who knows: I may select “Image Three” for my composition some other time in the near future. So here’s the finished piece using somewhat of an artistic license through the use of plant life in my composition:

 

 "Us" (Pastel on Illustration Board)

(Inspiration for "Us" was taken from the Photo Above)

In other news, I just successfully framed my first piece for my exhibit “Beauty in the Midst of Voices,” Too excited! The finished piece looks great in its frame. You may come view this particular piece that I speak of in this particular paragraph (as well as others) at my exhibit “Beauty in the Midst of Voices,” at the Mental Health Association of Rochester, here in Rochester, New York during the months of January and February 2012. Opening night for “Beauty in the Midst of Voices” is January 6th, 2012 @ 6:00 p.m., So please come out to attend! I would love for you to join me during the viewing of some really terrific art work !!

That’s all for now blogpost friends. And stay tuned . . . I will be uploading some new art work onto my online gallery and store over at SamDoumArt.com in the next upcoming days! Enjoy!

Let the Voting Begin!

Let the Voting Begin!

Yay! I’m so excited! Tomorrow’s my drawing day!

I’m a busy mom of three beautiful girls so I only get one day out of the week to draw: and that’s on Sundays! My mom and my husband have been so kind as to watch the girls for me every Sunday so that I can get some drawing time in. But I don’t know what to draw! I‘ve narrowed it down to the three images below.

Would my blog readers please be kind enough as to vote on which photo I should use as inspiration to draw from? Please see the images that I have selected below.

After I’ve drawn the most voted selected image, I will post it right here on my blog! So keep following up with all of us here at SamDoumArt.com!

Let the voting begin!  And a huge thank you in advance for your votes! :

Image 1:

Image 2:

Image 3:

(Please vote under the comments section either on Facebook or under the comments section of this blog)

Nana's Love

Nana's Love

So here’s a little bit more about myself. I am a wife and the mother of three beautiful children: all girls including a set of twins.

Our daughters’ names are Miriam, Faith, and Sephora Doumnande. Sephora, or Sephie for short, our baby, is now three years old (she just had a birthday this past November 26th) and her sisters, who are four, will be five years old on March 29th 2012.

Miriam is the oldest of the twins. She was born into the world seven minutes before her sister Faith.  And Sephora is their little sister.

Now, I selected all three of my girls as models for the composition of the beautiful piece “Porch Trio” that was featured in my last post dated November 27th, 2011 which was titled “So, Where did I Leave Off.” And I have to tell you, the poem featured in that post rings truth! Those girls are always fighting over toys! –

So, Where Did I Leave Off?

So, Where Did I Leave Off?

So, where did I leave off?

Ah, yes, RISD.

Yes, as I have already mentioned, it was here at RISD where I suffered from my first paranoid schizophrenic episode. All seemed fine or a while. I had managed to complete my second semester at RISD, and I also had managed to make really good grades during my first semester: all "A's and "B's," if I might add.

But something strange had happened by my second semester at RISD, and the “rumors” that I had fallen victim to in middle and high school had now somehow followed me to RISD. But there were no actual rumors at RISD circulating about me, as I believed at the time, and what I found out later (when I became healthy) was that the voices were just voices and that I was sick, and had been for a very, very, long time, sick with a variety of psychiatric symptoms, for seven years -- seven years non-medicated, I should also mention.

So, what types of things did I experience in my first paranoid schizophrenic episode? Well, you’ll just have to read my book when it comes out in order to find out! Yep, I am currently working on an autobiography about these very occurrences and events, and it will, hopefully, be released soon! I’m currently putting on the finishing touches now. But I do not know if I will self-publish my book or if I will seek a traditional publisher for my book which I have titled “If We Could tape Record Our Thoughts.” If I self-publish I can get my book out there in swift time! But if I seek a traditional publisher, I have the opportunity of reaching a larger audience.

So, as for the publishing discussion, I do not know which avenue I will go down yet, but stay tuned! Because I will be making my decision soon, and when I do, the readers of this particular blog will be the first to know!

So, what do you think I should do? Should I self-publish or seek a traditional publisher? Leave some feedback in the comments area and let me know . . .

Now, I would like to switch gears a little, and talk a little more about myself artistically. I was born in Providence, Rhode Island, but grew up here in the South Wedge community of Rochester, NY. I attended the public schools of the Rochester City School District and had always been what some would call the “class artist” in my elementary and middle school years. Once I graduated from elementary school, I began attending Monroe Middle School of Rochester, NY which at the same time had a program for artistic students which allowed for these middle school students to utilize the classroom environment of a neighboring school known as School of the Arts, aka SOTA of Rochester, NY. Now, at that time, SOTA had only been a high school, but by the time that I reached eighth grade, SOTA began offering middle school as a part of its curriculum and it also had moved to another location in the Rochester area, so that the two schools were no longer neighboring each other. When this happened, I became a student of SOTA full time, instead of part time (as I had been in the past when I was a student at Monroe Middle School) in the new building that SOTA moved to. And from eighth grade to twelfth grade I attended SOTA, majoring in the visual arts, until I finally got accepted to RISD, a very prestigious art school, for the Architectural program there. But something happened at RISD. What you ask? Well, you’ll just have to read my book in order to find out just what!

Switching gears again:
So, how am I doing with SamDoumArt.com? Well, so far things have been going pretty well. Very exciting stuff! I've already uploaded eight pieces to the site, and will soon be uploading more pieces in the next few days ahead. I’ve also written several poems for the existing pieces on the site and I am hoping to offer prints of my artwork that will include these particular writings. These particular prints should become available in the next upcoming days, so stay posted! For now, my blog readers, I've already uploaded one of these particular prints that I speak of here in this blog post for your viewing enjoyment!  Here is one of my written works for the particular piece below. Enjoy! :

Porch Trio

Three little musketeers
Three little bears
Three little pigs
Three little kids
We are a dynamic trio
All tight and snug like a tiny burrito
We are really quite close
And we love each other most
More than diamonds or gold
Or lustrous gems that glow
Because in each other we have  found a treasure
And a love like ours will never be severed
A trio of friends
With a friendship that will never end
A bond which will never bend
But if you try to snatch one of my toys away from me again?
Well, it depends!

        Copyright 2011 SamDoum Art. All Rights Reserved

And now, my blog readers, you can purchase a print of the finished piece with my artwork and writings HERE!  Until later, and remember, don't forget to Enjoy!

Ah, What to Discuss?

 Ah, What to Discuss?

The more you show others about yourself the less you’ll have to hide, and so long as you remain your true authentic self, you will always be loved for who you really are. Not someone you pretend to be.

It has been several weeks now since I first set up this blog, selecting a template, adding gadgets and widgets, and selecting a color scheme. But ever since my initial set up, I have not returned to place not even one post. What should I talk about? That is what I wondered. I wondered this because I wondered what I should share on this blog and what I should not. How is it possible to write a blog about your life, the life that inspires your artistic process and not talk about your interaction (good and/or bad) with others  who you share your life with? I do not live my life alone. It is impossible for one to write about their life and not include their interactions with others (good or bad) in their writings. But how do you write about your interactions with others and still maintain your integrity in your writing, without revealing too much about others, without revealing more than what others around you are ready to share?